Methods to signal antenna panel capability of user equipment (UE) for carrier aggregation (CA) in millimeter-wave (MMWAVE) frequency bands

ABSTRACT

Embodiments of a User Equipment (UE), Next Generation Node-B (gNB) and methods of communication are generally described herein. The UE may be configured for carrier aggregation (CA) in which a plurality of component carriers (CCs) are aggregated. The UE may determine a mapping of the CCs to a plurality of antenna panels for downlink reception, wherein a subset of the CCs are mapped to each antenna panel. The UE may transmit, to the gNB, radio resource control (RRC) signaling that indicates information related to the mapping. The gNB may, based at least partly on the mapping, determine, for each CC: a first scheduled time period for transmit beam refinement, and a second scheduled time period for receive beam refinement at the UE.

PRIORITY CLAIM

This application claims priority under 35 USC 119(e) to U.S. ProvisionalPatent Application Ser. No. 62/710,320, filed Feb. 16, 2018 which isincorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Embodiments pertain to wireless networks. Some embodiments relate tocellular communication networks including 3GPP (Third GenerationPartnership Project) networks, 3GPP LTE (Long Term Evolution) networks,3GPP LTE-A (LTE Advanced) networks, New Radio (NR) networks, and 5Gnetworks, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in thisrespect. Some embodiments relate to communication with multiple antennapanels. Some embodiments relate to carrier aggregation (CA).

BACKGROUND

Efficient use of the resources of a wireless network is important toprovide bandwidth and acceptable response times to the users of thewireless network. However, often there are many devices trying to sharethe same resources and some devices may be limited by the communicationprotocol they use or by their hardware bandwidth. Moreover, wirelessdevices may need to operate with both newer protocols and with legacydevice protocols.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A is a functional diagram of an example network in accordance withsome embodiments;

FIG. 1B is a functional diagram of another example network in accordancewith some embodiments;

FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of an example machine in accordancewith some embodiments;

FIG. 3 illustrates a user device in accordance with some aspects;

FIG. 4 illustrates a base station in accordance with some aspects;

FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary communication circuitry according tosome aspects;

FIG. 6 illustrates an example of a radio frame structure in accordancewith some embodiments;

FIG. 7A and FIG. 7B illustrate example frequency resources in accordancewith some embodiments;

FIG. 8 illustrates the operation of a method of communication inaccordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 9 illustrates the operation of another method of communication inaccordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 10 illustrates an example arrangement for beamforming in accordancewith some embodiments;

FIG. 11 illustrates an example scheduling conflict in accordance withsome embodiments;

FIG. 12 shows non-limiting examples of intra-panel Carrier Groups inaccordance with some embodiments; and

FIG. 13 illustrates an example procedure in accordance with someembodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following description and the drawings sufficiently illustratespecific embodiments to enable those skilled in the art to practicethem. Other embodiments may incorporate structural, logical, electrical,process, and other changes. Portions and features of some embodimentsmay be included in, or substituted for, those of other embodiments.Embodiments set forth in the claims encompass all available equivalentsof those claims.

FIG. 1A is a functional diagram of an example network in accordance withsome embodiments. FIG. 1B is a functional diagram of another examplenetwork in accordance with some embodiments. In references herein, “FIG.1” may include FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B. In some embodiments, the network 100may be a Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) network. In someembodiments, the network 150 may be a 3GPP network. In a non-limitingexample, the network 150 may be a new radio (NR) network. It should benoted that embodiments are not limited to usage of 3GPP networks,however, as other networks may be used in some embodiments. As anexample, a Fifth Generation (5G) network may be used in some cases. Asanother example, a New Radio (NR) network may be used in some cases. Asanother example, a wireless local area network (WLAN) may be used insome cases. Embodiments are not limited to these example networks,however, as other networks may be used in some embodiments. In someembodiments, a network may include one or more components shown in FIG.1A. Some embodiments may not necessarily include all components shown inFIG. 1A, and some embodiments may include additional components notshown in FIG. 1A. In some embodiments, a network may include one or morecomponents shown in FIG. 1B. Some embodiments may not necessarilyinclude all components shown in FIG. 1B, and some embodiments mayinclude additional components not shown in FIG. 1B. In some embodiments,a network may include one or more components shown in FIG. 1A and one ormore components shown in FIG. 1B. In some embodiments, a network mayinclude one or more components shown in FIG. 1A, one or more componentsshown in FIG. 1B and one or more additional components.

The network 100 may comprise a radio access network (RAN) 101 and thecore network 120 (e.g., shown as an evolved packet core (EPC)) coupledtogether through an S1 interface 115. For convenience and brevity sake,only a portion of the core network 120, as well as the RAN 101, isshown. In a non-limiting example, the RAN 101 may be an evolveduniversal terrestrial radio access network (E-UTRAN). In anothernon-limiting example, the RAN 101 may include one or more components ofa New Radio (NR) network. In another non-limiting example, the RAN 101may include one or more components of an E-UTRAN and one or morecomponents of another network (including but not limited to an NRnetwork).

The core network 120 may include a mobility management entity (MME) 122,a serving gateway (serving GW) 124, and packet data network gateway (PDNGW) 126. In some embodiments, the network 100 may include (and/orsupport) one or more Evolved Node-B's (eNBs) 104 (which may operate asbase stations) for communicating with User Equipment (UE) 102. The eNBs104 may include macro eNBs and low power (LP) eNBs, in some embodiments.

In some embodiments, the network 100 may include (and/or support) one ormore Next Generation Node-B's (gNBs) 105. In some embodiments, one ormore eNBs 104 may be configured to operate as gNBs 105. Embodiments arenot limited to the number of eNBs 104 shown in FIG. 1A or to the numberof gNBs 105 shown in FIG. 1A. In some embodiments, the network 100 maynot necessarily include eNBs 104. Embodiments are also not limited tothe connectivity of components shown in FIG. 1A.

It should be noted that references herein to an eNB 104 or to a gNB 105are not limiting. In some embodiments, one or more operations, methodsand/or techniques (such as those described herein) may be practiced by abase station component (and/or other component), including but notlimited to a gNB 105, an eNB 104, a serving cell, a transmit receivepoint (TRP) and/or other. In some embodiments, the base stationcomponent may be configured to operate in accordance with a New Radio(NR) protocol and/or NR standard, although the scope of embodiments isnot limited in this respect. In some embodiments, the base stationcomponent may be configured to operate in accordance with a FifthGeneration (5G) protocol and/or 5G standard, although the scope ofembodiments is not limited in this respect.

In some embodiments, one or more of the UEs 102, gNBs 105, and/or eNBs104 may be configured to operate in accordance with an NR protocoland/or NR techniques. References to a UE 102, eNB 104, and/or gNB 105 aspart of descriptions herein are not limiting. For instance, descriptionsof one or more operations, techniques and/or methods practiced by a gNB105 are not limiting. In some embodiments, one or more of thoseoperations, techniques and/or methods may be practiced by an eNB 104and/or other base station component.

In some embodiments, the UE 102 may transmit signals (data, controland/or other) to the gNB 105, and may receive signals (data, controland/or other) from the gNB 105. In some embodiments, the UE 102 maytransmit signals (data, control and/or other) to the eNB 104, and mayreceive signals (data, control and/or other) from the eNB 104. Theseembodiments will be described in more detail below.

The MME 122 is similar in function to the control plane of legacyServing GPRS Support Nodes (SGSN). The MME 122 manages mobility aspectsin access such as gateway selection and tracking area list management.The serving GW 124 terminates the interface toward the RAN 101, androutes data packets between the RAN 101 and the core network 120. Inaddition, it may be a local mobility anchor point for inter-eNBhandovers and also may provide an anchor for inter-3GPP mobility. Otherresponsibilities may include lawful intercept, charging, and some policyenforcement. The serving GW 124 and the MME 122 may be implemented inone physical node or separate physical nodes. The PDN GW 126 terminatesan SGi interface toward the packet data network (PDN). The PDN GW 126routes data packets between the EPC 120 and the external PDN, and may bea key node for policy enforcement and charging data collection. It mayalso provide an anchor point for mobility with non-LTE accesses. Theexternal PDN can be any kind of IP network, as well as an IP MultimediaSubsystem (IMS) domain. The PDN GW 126 and the serving GW 124 may beimplemented in one physical node or separated physical nodes.

In some embodiments, the eNBs 104 (macro and micro) terminate the airinterface protocol and may be the first point of contact for a UE 102.In some embodiments, an eNB 104 may fulfill various logical functionsfor the network 100, including but not limited to RNC (radio networkcontroller functions) such as radio bearer management, uplink anddownlink dynamic radio resource management and data packet scheduling,and mobility management.

In some embodiments, UEs 102 may be configured to communicate OrthogonalFrequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) communication signals with an eNB104 and/or gNB 105 over a multicarrier communication channel inaccordance with an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA)communication technique. In some embodiments, eNBs 104 and/or gNBs 105may be configured to communicate OFDM communication signals with a UE102 over a multicarrier communication channel in accordance with anOFDMA communication technique. The OFDM signals may comprise a pluralityof orthogonal subcarriers.

The S1 interface 115 is the interface that separates the RAN 101 and theEPC 120. It may be split into two parts: the S1-U, which carries trafficdata between the eNBs 104 and the serving GW 124, and the S1-MME, whichis a signaling interface between the eNBs 104 and the MME 122. The X2interface is the interface between eNBs 104. The X2 interface comprisestwo parts, the X2-C and X2-U. The X2-C is the control plane interfacebetween the eNBs 104, while the X2-U is the user plane interface betweenthe eNBs 104.

In some embodiments, similar functionality and/or connectivity describedfor the eNB 104 may be used for the gNB 105, although the scope ofembodiments is not limited in this respect. In a non-limiting example,the S1 interface 115 (and/or similar interface) may be split into twoparts: the S1-U, which carries traffic data between the gNBs 105 and theserving GW 124, and the S1-MME, which is a signaling interface betweenthe gNBs 104 and the MME 122. The X2 interface (and/or similarinterface) may enable communication between eNBs 104, communicationbetween gNBs 105 and/or communication between an eNB 104 and a gNB 105.

With cellular networks, LP cells are typically used to extend coverageto indoor areas where outdoor signals do not reach well, or to addnetwork capacity in areas with very dense phone usage, such as trainstations. As used herein, the term low power (LP) eNB refers to anysuitable relatively low power eNB for implementing a narrower cell(narrower than a macro cell) such as a femtocell, a picocell, or a microcell. Femtocell eNBs are typically provided by a mobile network operatorto its residential or enterprise customers. A femtocell is typically thesize of a residential gateway or smaller and generally connects to theuser's broadband line. Once plugged in, the femtocell connects to themobile operator's mobile network and provides extra coverage in a rangeof typically 30 to 50 meters for residential femtocells. Thus, a LP eNBmight be a femtocell eNB since it is coupled through the PDN GW 126.Similarly, a picocell is a wireless communication system typicallycovering a small area, such as in-building (offices, shopping malls,train stations, etc.), or more recently in-aircraft. A picocell eNB cangenerally connect through the X2 link to another eNB such as a macro eNBthrough its base station controller (BSC) functionality. Thus, LP eNBmay be implemented with a picocell eNB since it is coupled to a macroeNB via an X2 interface. Picocell eNBs or other LP eNBs may incorporatesome or all functionality of a macro eNB. In some cases, this may bereferred to as an access point base station or enterprise femtocell. Insome embodiments, various types of gNBs 105 may be used, including butnot limited to one or more of the eNB types described above.

In some embodiments, the network 150 may include one or more componentsconfigured to operate in accordance with one or more 3GPP standards,including but not limited to an NR standard. The network 150 shown inFIG. 1B may include a next generation RAN (NG-RAN) 155, which mayinclude one or more gNBs 105. In some embodiments, the network 150 mayinclude the E-UTRAN 160, which may include one or more eNBs. The E-UTRAN160 may be similar to the RAN 101 described herein, although the scopeof embodiments is not limited in this respect.

In some embodiments, the network 150 may include the MME 165. The MME165 may be similar to the MME 122 described herein, although the scopeof embodiments is not limited in this respect. The MME 165 may performone or more operations or functionality similar to those describedherein regarding the MME 122, although the scope of embodiments is notlimited in this respect.

In some embodiments, the network 150 may include the SGW 170. The SGW170 may be similar to the SGW 124 described herein, although the scopeof embodiments is not limited in this respect. The SGW 170 may performone or more operations or functionality similar to those describedherein regarding the SGW 124, although the scope of embodiments is notlimited in this respect.

In some embodiments, the network 150 may include component(s) and/ormodule(s) for functionality for a user plane function (UPF) and userplane functionality for PGW (PGW-U), as indicated by 175. In someembodiments, the network 150 may include component(s) and/or module(s)for functionality for a session management function (SMF) and controlplane functionality for PGW (PGW-C), as indicated by 180. In someembodiments, the component(s) and/or module(s) indicated by 175 and/or180 may be similar to the PGW 126 described herein, although the scopeof embodiments is not limited in this respect. The component(s) and/ormodule(s) indicated by 175 and/or 180 may perform one or more operationsor functionality similar to those described herein regarding the PGW126, although the scope of embodiments is not limited in this respect.One or both of the components 170, 172 may perform at least a portion ofthe functionality described herein for the PGW 126, although the scopeof embodiments is not limited in this respect.

Embodiments are not limited to the number or type of components shown inFIG. 1B. Embodiments are also not limited to the connectivity ofcomponents shown in FIG. 1B.

In some embodiments, a downlink resource grid may be used for downlinktransmissions from an eNB 104 to a UE 102, while uplink transmissionfrom the UE 102 to the eNB 104 may utilize similar techniques. In someembodiments, a downlink resource grid may be used for downlinktransmissions from a gNB 105 to a UE 102, while uplink transmission fromthe UE 102 to the gNB 105 may utilize similar techniques. The grid maybe a time-frequency grid, called a resource grid or time-frequencyresource grid, which is the physical resource in the downlink in eachslot. Such a time-frequency plane representation is a common practicefor OFDM systems, which makes it intuitive for radio resourceallocation. Each column and each row of the resource grid correspond toone OFDM symbol and one OFDM subcarrier, respectively. The duration ofthe resource grid in the time domain corresponds to one slot in a radioframe. The smallest time-frequency unit in a resource grid is denoted asa resource element (RE). There are several different physical downlinkchannels that are conveyed using such resource blocks. With particularrelevance to this disclosure, two of these physical downlink channelsare the physical downlink shared channel and the physical down linkcontrol channel.

As used herein, the term “circuitry” may refer to, be part of, orinclude an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), an electroniccircuit, a processor (shared, dedicated, or group), and/or memory(shared, dedicated, or group) that execute one or more software orfirmware programs, a combinational logic circuit, and/or other suitablehardware components that provide the described functionality. In someembodiments, the circuitry may be implemented in, or functionsassociated with the circuitry may be implemented by, one or moresoftware or firmware modules. In some embodiments, circuitry may includelogic, at least partially operable in hardware. Embodiments describedherein may be implemented into a system using any suitably configuredhardware and/or software.

FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of an example machine in accordancewith some embodiments. The machine 200 is an example machine upon whichany one or more of the techniques and/or methodologies discussed hereinmay be performed. In alternative embodiments, the machine 200 mayoperate as a standalone device or may be connected (e.g., networked) toother machines. In a networked deployment, the machine 200 may operatein the capacity of a server machine, a client machine, or both inserver-client network environments. In an example, the machine 200 mayact as a peer machine in peer-to-peer (P2P) (or other distributed)network environment. The machine 200 may be a UE 102, eNB 104, gNB 105,access point (AP), station (STA), user, device, mobile device, basestation, personal computer (PC), a tablet PC, a set-top box (STB), apersonal digital assistant (PDA), a mobile telephone, a smart phone, aweb appliance, a network router, switch or bridge, or any machinecapable of executing instructions (sequential or otherwise) that specifyactions to be taken by that machine. Further, while only a singlemachine is illustrated, the term “machine” shall also be taken toinclude any collection of machines that individually or jointly executea set (or multiple sets) of instructions to perform any one or more ofthe methodologies discussed herein, such as cloud computing, software asa service (SaaS), other computer cluster configurations.

Examples as described herein, may include, or may operate on, logic or anumber of components, modules, or mechanisms. Modules are tangibleentities (e.g., hardware) capable of performing specified operations andmay be configured or arranged in a certain manner. In an example,circuits may be arranged (e.g., internally or with respect to externalentities such as other circuits) in a specified manner as a module. Inan example, the whole or part of one or more computer systems (e.g., astandalone, client or server computer system) or one or more hardwareprocessors may be configured by firmware or software (e.g.,instructions, an application portion, or an application) as a modulethat operates to perform specified operations. In an example, thesoftware may reside on a machine readable medium. In an example, thesoftware, when executed by the underlying hardware of the module, causesthe hardware to perform the specified operations.

Accordingly, the term “module” is understood to encompass a tangibleentity, be that an entity that is physically constructed, specificallyconfigured (e.g., hardwired), or temporarily (e.g., transitorily)configured (e.g., programmed) to operate in a specified manner or toperform part or all of any operation described herein. Consideringexamples in which modules are temporarily configured, each of themodules need not be instantiated at any one moment in time. For example,where the modules comprise a general-purpose hardware processorconfigured using software, the general-purpose hardware processor may beconfigured as respective different modules at different times. Softwaremay accordingly configure a hardware processor, for example, toconstitute a particular module at one instance of time and to constitutea different module at a different instance of time.

The machine (e.g., computer system) 200 may include a hardware processor202 (e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit(GPU), a hardware processor core, or any combination thereof), a mainmemory 204 and a static memory 206, some or all of which may communicatewith each other via an interlink (e.g., bus) 208. The machine 200 mayfurther include a display unit 210, an alphanumeric input device 212(e.g., a keyboard), and a user interface (UI) navigation device 214(e.g., a mouse). In an example, the display unit 210, input device 212and UI navigation device 214 may be a touch screen display. The machine200 may additionally include a storage device (e.g., drive unit) 216, asignal generation device 218 (e.g., a speaker), a network interfacedevice 220, and one or more sensors 221, such as a global positioningsystem (GPS) sensor, compass, accelerometer, or other sensor. Themachine 200 may include an output controller 228, such as a serial(e.g., universal serial bus (USB), parallel, or other wired or wireless(e.g., infrared (IR), near field communication (NFC), etc.) connectionto communicate or control one or more peripheral devices (e.g., aprinter, card reader, etc.).

The storage device 216 may include a machine readable medium 222 onwhich is stored one or more sets of data structures or instructions 224(e.g., software) embodying or utilized by any one or more of thetechniques or functions described herein. The instructions 224 may alsoreside, completely or at least partially, within the main memory 204,within static memory 206, or within the hardware processor 202 duringexecution thereof by the machine 200. In an example, one or anycombination of the hardware processor 202, the main memory 204, thestatic memory 206, or the storage device 216 may constitute machinereadable media. In some embodiments, the machine readable medium may beor may include a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. Insome embodiments, the machine readable medium may be or may include acomputer-readable storage medium.

While the machine readable medium 222 is illustrated as a single medium,the term “machine readable medium” may include a single medium ormultiple media (e.g., a centralized or distributed database, and/orassociated caches and servers) configured to store the one or moreinstructions 224. The term “machine readable medium” may include anymedium that is capable of storing, encoding, or carrying instructionsfor execution by the machine 200 and that cause the machine 200 toperform any one or more of the techniques of the present disclosure, orthat is capable of storing, encoding or carrying data structures used byor associated with such instructions. Non-limiting machine readablemedium examples may include solid-state memories, and optical andmagnetic media. Specific examples of machine readable media may include:non-volatile memory, such as semiconductor memory devices (e.g.,Electrically Programmable Read-Only Memory (EPROM), ElectricallyErasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EEPROM)) and flash memorydevices; magnetic disks, such as internal hard disks and removabledisks; magneto-optical disks; Random Access Memory (RAM); and CD-ROM andDVD-ROM disks. In some examples, machine readable media may includenon-transitory machine readable media. In some examples, machinereadable media may include machine readable media that is not atransitory propagating signal.

The instructions 224 may further be transmitted or received over acommunications network 226 using a transmission medium via the networkinterface device 220 utilizing any one of a number of transfer protocols(e.g., frame relay, internet protocol (IP), transmission controlprotocol (TCP), user datagram protocol (UDP), hypertext transferprotocol (HTTP), etc.). Example communication networks may include alocal area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), a packet datanetwork (e.g., the Internet), mobile telephone networks (e.g., cellularnetworks), Plain Old Telephone (POTS) networks, and wireless datanetworks (e.g., Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)802.11 family of standards known as Wi-Fi®, IEEE 802.16 family ofstandards known as WiMax®), IEEE 802.15.4 family of standards, a LongTerm Evolution (LTE) family of standards, a Universal MobileTelecommunications System (UMTS) family of standards, peer-to-peer (P2P)networks, among others. In an example, the network interface device 220may include one or more physical jacks (e.g., Ethernet, coaxial, orphone jacks) or one or more antennas to connect to the communicationsnetwork 226. In an example, the network interface device 220 may includea plurality of antennas to wirelessly communicate using at least one ofsingle-input multiple-output (SIMO), multiple-input multiple-output(MIMO), or multiple-input single-output (MISO) techniques. In someexamples, the network interface device 220 may wirelessly communicateusing Multiple User MIMO techniques. The term “transmission medium”shall be taken to include any intangible medium that is capable ofstoring, encoding or carrying instructions for execution by the machine200, and includes digital or analog communications signals or otherintangible medium to facilitate communication of such software.

FIG. 3 illustrates a user device in accordance with some aspects. Insome embodiments, the user device 300 may be a mobile device. In someembodiments, the user device 300 may be or may be configured to operateas a User Equipment (UE). In some embodiments, the user device 300 maybe arranged to operate in accordance with a new radio (NR) protocol. Insome embodiments, the user device 300 may be arranged to operate inaccordance with a Third Generation Partnership Protocol (3GPP) protocol.The user device 300 may be suitable for use as a UE 102 as depicted inFIG. 1, in some embodiments. It should be noted that in someembodiments, a UE, an apparatus of a UE, a user device or an apparatusof a user device may include one or more of the components shown in oneor more of FIGS. 2, 3, and 5. In some embodiments, such a UE, userdevice and/or apparatus may include one or more additional components.

In some aspects, the user device 300 may include an applicationprocessor 305, baseband processor 310 (also referred to as a basebandmodule), radio front end module (RFEM) 315, memory 320, connectivitymodule 325, near field communication (NFC) controller 330, audio driver335, camera driver 340, touch screen 345, display driver 350, sensors355, removable memory 360, power management integrated circuit (PMIC)365 and smart battery 370. In some aspects, the user device 300 may be aUser Equipment (UE).

In some aspects, application processor 305 may include, for example, oneor more CPU cores and one or more of cache memory, low drop-out voltageregulators (LDOs), interrupt controllers, serial interfaces such asserial peripheral interface (SPI), inter-integrated circuit (I²C) oruniversal programmable serial interface module, real time clock (RTC),timer-counters including interval and watchdog timers, general purposeinput-output (IO), memory card controllers such as securedigital/multi-media card (SD/MMC) or similar, universal serial bus (USB)interfaces, mobile industry processor interface (MIPI) interfaces andJoint Test Access Group (JTAG) test access ports.

In some aspects, baseband module 310 may be implemented, for example, asa solder-down substrate including one or more integrated circuits, asingle packaged integrated circuit soldered to a main circuit board,and/or a multi-chip module containing two or more integrated circuits.

FIG. 4 illustrates a base station in accordance with some aspects. Insome embodiments, the base station 400 may be or may be configured tooperate as an Evolved Node-B (eNB). In some embodiments, the basestation 400 may be or may be configured to operate as a Next GenerationNode-B (gNB). In some embodiments, the base station 400 may be arrangedto operate in accordance with a new radio (NR) protocol. In someembodiments, the base station 400 may be arranged to operate inaccordance with a Third Generation Partnership Protocol (3GPP) protocol.It should be noted that in some embodiments, the base station 400 may bea stationary non-mobile device. The base station 400 may be suitable foruse as an eNB 104 as depicted in FIG. 1, in some embodiments. The basestation 400 may be suitable for use as a gNB 105 as depicted in FIG. 1,in some embodiments. It should be noted that in some embodiments, aneNB, an apparatus of an eNB, a gNB, an apparatus of a gNB, a basestation and/or an apparatus of a base station may include one or more ofthe components shown in one or more of FIGS. 2, 4, and 5. In someembodiments, such an eNB, gNB, base station and/or apparatus may includeone or more additional components.

FIG. 4 illustrates a base station or infrastructure equipment radio head400 in accordance with some aspects. The base station 400 may includeone or more of application processor 405, baseband modules 410, one ormore radio front end modules 415, memory 420, power management circuitry425, power tee circuitry 430, network controller 435, network interfaceconnector 440, satellite navigation receiver module 445, and userinterface 450. In some aspects, the base station 400 may be an EvolvedNode-B (eNB), which may be arranged to operate in accordance with a 3GPPprotocol, new radio (NR) protocol and/or Fifth Generation (5G) protocol.In some aspects, the base station 400 may be a Next Generation Node-B(gNB), which may be arranged to operate in accordance with a 3GPPprotocol, new radio (NR) protocol and/or Fifth Generation (5G) protocol.

In some aspects, application processor 405 may include one or more CPUcores and one or more of cache memory, low drop-out voltage regulators(LDOs), interrupt controllers, serial interfaces such as SPI, I²C oruniversal programmable serial interface module, real time clock (RTC),timer-counters including interval and watchdog timers, general purposeIO, memory card controllers such as SD/MMC or similar, USB interfaces,MIPI interfaces and Joint Test Access Group (JTAG) test access ports.

In some aspects, baseband processor 410 may be implemented, for example,as a solder-down substrate including one or more integrated circuits, asingle packaged integrated circuit soldered to a main circuit board or amulti-chip module containing two or more integrated circuits.

In some aspects, memory 420 may include one or more of volatile memoryincluding dynamic random access memory (DRAM) and/or synchronous dynamicrandom access memory (SDRAM), and nonvolatile memory (NVM) includinghigh-speed electrically erasable memory (commonly referred to as Flashmemory), phase change random access memory (PRAM), magneto-resistiverandom access memory (MRAM) and/or a three-dimensional cross-pointmemory. Memory 420 may be implemented as one or more of solder downpackaged integrated circuits, socketed memory modules and plug-in memorycards.

In some aspects, power management integrated circuitry 425 may includeone or more of voltage regulators, surge protectors, power alarmdetection circuitry and one or more backup power sources such as abattery or capacitor. Power alarm detection circuitry may detect one ormore of brown out (under-voltage) and surge (over-voltage) conditions.

In some aspects, power tee circuitry 430 may provide for electricalpower drawn from a network cable to provide both power supply and dataconnectivity to the base station 400 using a single cable. In someaspects, network controller 435 may provide connectivity to a networkusing a standard network interface protocol such as Ethernet. Networkconnectivity may be provided using a physical connection which is one ofelectrical (commonly referred to as copper interconnect), optical orwireless.

In some aspects, satellite navigation receiver module 445 may includecircuitry to receive and decode signals transmitted by one or morenavigation satellite constellations such as the global positioningsystem (GPS), Globalnaya Navigatsionnaya Sputnikovaya Sistema (GLONASS),Galileo and/or BeiDou. The receiver 445 may provide data to applicationprocessor 405 which may include one or more of position data or timedata. Application processor 405 may use time data to synchronizeoperations with other radio base stations. In some aspects, userinterface 450 may include one or more of physical or virtual buttons,such as a reset button, one or more indicators such as light emittingdiodes (LEDs) and a display screen.

FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary communication circuitry according tosome aspects. Circuitry 500 is alternatively grouped according tofunctions. Components as shown in 500 are shown here for illustrativepurposes and may include other components not shown here in FIG. 5. Insome aspects, the communication circuitry 500 may be used for millimeterwave communication, although aspects are not limited to millimeter wavecommunication. Communication at any suitable frequency may be performedby the communication circuitry 500 in some aspects.

It should be noted that a device, such as a UE 102, eNB 104, gNB 105,the user device 300, the base station 400, the machine 200 and/or otherdevice may include one or more components of the communication circuitry500, in some aspects.

The communication circuitry 500 may include protocol processingcircuitry 505, which may implement one or more of medium access control(MAC), radio link control (RLC), packet data convergence protocol(PDCP), radio resource control (RRC) and non-access stratum (NAS)functions. Protocol processing circuitry 505 may include one or moreprocessing cores (not shown) to execute instructions and one or morememory structures (not shown) to store program and data information.

The communication circuitry 500 may further include digital basebandcircuitry 510, which may implement physical layer (PHY) functionsincluding one or more of hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ)functions, scrambling and/or descrambling, coding and/or decoding, layermapping and/or de-mapping, modulation symbol mapping, received symboland/or bit metric determination, multi-antenna port pre-coding and/ordecoding which may include one or more of space-time, space-frequency orspatial coding, reference signal generation and/or detection, preamblesequence generation and/or decoding, synchronization sequence generationand/or detection, control channel signal blind decoding, and otherrelated functions.

The communication circuitry 500 may further include transmit circuitry515, receive circuitry 520 and/or antenna array circuitry 530. Thecommunication circuitry 500 may further include radio frequency (RF)circuitry 525. In an aspect of the disclosure, RF circuitry 525 mayinclude multiple parallel RF chains for one or more of transmit orreceive functions, each connected to one or more antennas of the antennaarray 530.

In an aspect of the disclosure, protocol processing circuitry 505 mayinclude one or more instances of control circuitry (not shown) toprovide control functions for one or more of digital baseband circuitry510, transmit circuitry 515, receive circuitry 520, and/or radiofrequency circuitry 525.

In some embodiments, processing circuitry may perform one or moreoperations described herein and/or other operation(s). In a non-limitingexample, the processing circuitry may include one or more componentssuch as the processor 202, application processor 305, baseband module310, application processor 405, baseband module 410, protocol processingcircuitry 505, digital baseband circuitry 510, similar component(s)and/or other component(s).

In some embodiments, a transceiver may transmit one or more elements(including but not limited to those described herein) and/or receive oneor more elements (including but not limited to those described herein).In a non-limiting example, the transceiver may include one or morecomponents such as the radio front end module 315, radio front endmodule 415, transmit circuitry 515, receive circuitry 520, radiofrequency circuitry 525, similar component(s) and/or other component(s).

One or more antennas (such as 230, 312, 412, 530 and/or others) maycomprise one or more directional or omnidirectional antennas, including,for example, dipole antennas, monopole antennas, patch antennas, loopantennas, microstrip antennas or other types of antennas suitable fortransmission of RF signals. In some multiple-input multiple-output(MIMO) embodiments, one or more of the antennas (such as 230, 312, 412,530 and/or others) may be effectively separated to take advantage ofspatial diversity and the different channel characteristics that mayresult.

In some embodiments, the UE 102, eNB 104, gNB 105, user device 300, basestation 400, machine 200 and/or other device described herein may be amobile device and/or portable wireless communication device, such as apersonal digital assistant (PDA), a laptop or portable computer withwireless communication capability, a web tablet, a wireless telephone, asmartphone, a wireless headset, a pager, an instant messaging device, adigital camera, an access point, a television, a wearable device such asa medical device (e.g., a heart rate monitor, a blood pressure monitor,etc.), or other device that may receive and/or transmit informationwirelessly. In some embodiments, the UE 102, eNB 104, gNB 105, userdevice 300, base station 400, machine 200 and/or other device describedherein may be configured to operate in accordance with 3GPP standards,although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. Insome embodiments, the UE 102, eNB 104, gNB 105, user device 300, basestation 400, machine 200 and/or other device described herein may beconfigured to operate in accordance with new radio (NR) standards,although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. Insome embodiments, the UE 102, eNB 104, gNB 105, user device 300, basestation 400, machine 200 and/or other device described herein may beconfigured to operate according to other protocols or standards,including IEEE 802.11 or other IEEE standards. In some embodiments, theUE 102, eNB 104, gNB 105, user device 300, base station 400, machine 200and/or other device described herein may include one or more of akeyboard, a display, a non-volatile memory port, multiple antennas, agraphics processor, an application processor, speakers, and other mobiledevice elements. The display may be an LCD screen including a touchscreen.

Although the UE 102, eNB 104, gNB 105, user device 300, base station400, machine 200 and/or other device described herein may each beillustrated as having several separate functional elements, one or moreof the functional elements may be combined and may be implemented bycombinations of software-configured elements, such as processingelements including digital signal processors (DSPs), and/or otherhardware elements. For example, some elements may comprise one or moremicroprocessors, DSPs, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs),application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), radio-frequencyintegrated circuits (RFICs) and combinations of various hardware andlogic circuitry for performing at least the functions described herein.In some embodiments, the functional elements may refer to one or moreprocesses operating on one or more processing elements.

Embodiments may be implemented in one or a combination of hardware,firmware and software. Embodiments may also be implemented asinstructions stored on a computer-readable storage device, which may beread and executed by at least one processor to perform the operationsdescribed herein. A computer-readable storage device may include anynon-transitory mechanism for storing information in a form readable by amachine (e.g., a computer). For example, a computer-readable storagedevice may include read-only memory (ROM), random-access memory (RAM),magnetic disk storage media, optical storage media, flash-memorydevices, and other storage devices and media. Some embodiments mayinclude one or more processors and may be configured with instructionsstored on a computer-readable storage device.

It should be noted that in some embodiments, an apparatus of the UE 102,eNB 104, gNB 105, machine 200, user device 300 and/or base station 400may include various components shown in FIGS. 2-5. Accordingly,techniques and operations described herein that refer to the UE 102 maybe applicable to an apparatus of a UE. In addition, techniques andoperations described herein that refer to the eNB 104 may be applicableto an apparatus of an eNB. In addition, techniques and operationsdescribed herein that refer to the gNB 105 may be applicable to anapparatus of a gNB.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example of a radio frame structure in accordancewith some embodiments. FIGS. 7A and 7B illustrate example frequencyresources in accordance with some embodiments. In references herein,“FIG. 7” may include FIG. 7A and FIG. 7B. It should be noted that theexamples shown in FIGS. 6-7 may illustrate some or all of the conceptsand techniques described herein in some cases, but embodiments are notlimited by the examples. For instance, embodiments are not limited bythe name, number, type, size, ordering, arrangement and/or other aspectsof the time resources, symbol periods, frequency resources, PRBs andother elements as shown in FIGS. 6-7. Although some of the elementsshown in the examples of FIGS. 6-7 may be included in a 3GPP LTEstandard, 5G standard, NR standard and/or other standard, embodimentsare not limited to usage of such elements that are included instandards.

An example of a radio frame structure that may be used in some aspectsis shown in FIG. 6. In this example, radio frame 600 has a duration of10 ms. Radio frame 600 is divided into slots 602 each of duration 0.5ms, and numbered from 0 to 19. Additionally, each pair of adjacent slots602 numbered 2i and 2i+1, where i is an integer, is referred to as asubframe 601.

In some aspects using the radio frame format of FIG. 6, each subframe601 may include a combination of one or more of downlink controlinformation, downlink data information, uplink control information anduplink data information. The combination of information types anddirection may be selected independently for each subframe 602.

Referring to FIGS. 7A and 7B, in some aspects, a sub-component of atransmitted signal consisting of one subcarrier in the frequency domainand one symbol interval in the time domain may be termed a resourceelement. Resource elements may be depicted in a grid form as shown inFIG. 7A and FIG. 7B.

In some aspects, illustrated in FIG. 7A, resource elements may begrouped into rectangular resource blocks 700 consisting of 12subcarriers in the frequency domain and the P symbols in the timedomain, where P may correspond to the number of symbols contained in oneslot, and may be 6, 7, or any other suitable number of symbols.

In some alternative aspects, illustrated in FIG. 7B, resource elementsmay be grouped into resource blocks 700 consisting of 12 subcarriers (asindicated by 702) in the frequency domain and one symbol in the timedomain. In the depictions of FIG. 7A and FIG. 7B, each resource element705 may be indexed as (k, l) where k is the index number of subcarrier,in the range 0 to N·M−1 (as indicated by 703), where N is the number ofsubcarriers in a resource block, and M is the number of resource blocksspanning a component carrier in the frequency domain.

In accordance with some embodiments, the UE 102 may be configured forcarrier aggregation (CA) in which a plurality of component carriers(CCs) are aggregated. The UE 102 may determine a mapping of the CCs to aplurality of antenna panels for downlink reception, wherein a subset ofthe CCs are mapped to each antenna panel. The UE may encode a UE CAcapability information element (IE) that includes carrier aggregationrelated capability information of the UE 102. The UE CA capability IEmay be encoded to include information related to the mapping. The UE 102may transmit, to a Next Generation Node-B (gNB), radio resource control(RRC) signaling that includes the UE CA capability IE. The UE 102 mayreceive, from the gNB 105, control signaling that indicates one or morescheduled training periods for determination, by the UE 102, of one ormore receive beams for the downlink reception. The UE 102 may, for eachantenna panel, determine a receive beam for the downlink reception basedat least partly on training signals received from the gNB 105 on atleast one of the CCs mapped to the antenna panel, the signals receivedduring one or more of the scheduled training periods. These embodimentsare described in more detail below.

FIG. 8 illustrates the operation of a method of communication inaccordance with some embodiments. FIG. 9 illustrates the operation ofanother method of communication in accordance with some embodiments. Itis important to note that embodiments of the methods 800, 900 mayinclude additional or even fewer operations or processes in comparisonto what is illustrated in FIGS. 8-9. In addition, embodiments of themethods 800, 900 are not necessarily limited to the chronological orderthat is shown in FIGS. 8-9. In describing the methods 800, 900,reference may be made to one or more figures, although it is understoodthat the methods 800, 900 may be practiced with any other suitablesystems, interfaces and components.

In some embodiments, a UE 102 may perform one or more operations of themethod 800, but embodiments are not limited to performance of the method800 and/or operations of it by the UE 102. In some embodiments, anotherdevice and/or component may perform one or more operations of the method800. In some embodiments, another device and/or component may performone or more operations that may be similar to one or more operations ofthe method 800. In some embodiments, another device and/or component mayperform one or more operations that may be reciprocal to one or moreoperations of the method 800. In a non-limiting example, the gNB 105 mayperform an operation that may be the same as, similar to, reciprocal toand/or related to an operation of the method 800, in some embodiments.

In some embodiments, a gNB 105 may perform one or more operations of themethod 900, but embodiments are not limited to performance of the method900 and/or operations of it by the gNB 105. In some embodiments, anotherdevice and/or component may perform one or more operations of the method900. In some embodiments, another device and/or component may performone or more operations that may be similar to one or more operations ofthe method 900. In some embodiments, another device and/or component mayperform one or more operations that may be reciprocal to one or moreoperations of the method 900. In a non-limiting example, the UE 102 mayperform an operation that may be the same as, similar to, reciprocal toand/or related to an operation of the method 900, in some embodiments.

It should be noted that one or more operations of one of the methods800, 900 may be the same as, similar to and/or reciprocal to one or moreoperations of the other method. For instance, an operation of the method800 may be the same as, similar to and/or reciprocal to an operation ofthe method 900, in some embodiments. In a non-limiting example, anoperation of the method 800 may include reception of an element (such asa frame, block, message and/or other) by the UE 102, and an operation ofthe method 900 may include transmission of a same element (and/orsimilar element) by the gNB 105. In some cases, descriptions ofoperations and techniques described as part of one of the methods 800,900 may be relevant to the other method.

Discussion of various techniques and concepts regarding one of themethods 800, 900 and/or other method may be applicable to one of theother methods, although the scope of embodiments is not limited in thisrespect. Such technique and concepts may include antenna panels, carrieraggregation (CA), component carriers (CCs), signaling, RRC signaling,beam management, receive beams, transmit beams, intra-panel carriergroups and/or other.

The methods 800, 900 and other methods described herein may refer toeNBs 104, gNBs 105 and/or UEs 102 operating in accordance with 3GPPstandards, 5G standards, NR standards and/or other standards. However,embodiments are not limited to performance of those methods by thosecomponents, and may also be performed by other devices, such as a Wi-Fiaccess point (AP) or user station (STA). In addition, the methods 800,900 and other methods described herein may be practiced by wirelessdevices configured to operate in other suitable types of wirelesscommunication systems, including systems configured to operate accordingto various IEEE standards such as IEEE 802.11. The methods 800, 900 mayalso be applicable to an apparatus of a UE 102, an apparatus of an eNB104, an apparatus of a gNB 105 and/or an apparatus of another devicedescribed above.

It should also be noted that embodiments are not limited by referencesherein (such as in descriptions of the methods 800, 900 and/or otherdescriptions herein) to transmission, reception and/or exchanging ofelements such as frames, messages, requests, indicators, signals orother elements. In some embodiments, such an element may be generated,encoded or otherwise processed by processing circuitry (such as by abaseband processor included in the processing circuitry) fortransmission. The transmission may be performed by a transceiver orother component, in some cases. In some embodiments, such an element maybe decoded, detected or otherwise processed by the processing circuitry(such as by the baseband processor). The element may be received by atransceiver or other component, in some cases. In some embodiments, theprocessing circuitry and the transceiver may be included in a sameapparatus. The scope of embodiments is not limited in this respect,however, as the transceiver may be separate from the apparatus thatcomprises the processing circuitry, in some embodiments.

One or more of the elements (such as messages, operations and/or other)described herein may be included in a standard and/or protocol,including but not limited to Third Generation Partnership Project(3GPP), 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE), Fourth Generation (4G), FifthGeneration (5G), New Radio (NR) and/or other. The scope of embodimentsis not limited to usage of elements that are included in standards,however.

At operation 805, the UE 102 may determine a mapping of a plurality ofcomponent carriers (CCs) to a plurality of antenna panels for downlinkreception. In some embodiments, the UE 102 may be configured for carrieraggregation (CA) in which a plurality of CCs are aggregated. In someembodiments, a subset of the CCs may be mapped to each antenna panel.

In some embodiments, the UE 102 and/or apparatus of the UE 102 mayinclude a transceiver coupled to the antenna panels. In someembodiments, the UE 102 may comprise the antenna panels.

In a non-limiting example, the UE 102 may determine the mapping based atleast partly on a maximum frequency separation criterion, whereincarrier frequencies of any two CCs mapped to one of the antenna panelsare not separated by more than the maximum frequency separation.Accordingly, the UE 102 may attempt to group CCs that are relativelyclose to each other in frequency (such as within the maximum frequencyseparation) into a same group, and the CCs of the group may bemapped/assigned to one of the antenna panels.

In some embodiments, at least one of the CCs may be in a millimeter wave(mmWave) frequency band. In some embodiments, all of the CCs may be inmmWave frequency bands. In some embodiments, one or more CCs may be inmmWave frequency band(s) and one or more CCs may be in frequency bandsthat are not at mmWave frequencies.

At operation 810, the UE 102 may transmit RRC signaling and/or controlsignaling. In some embodiments, the UE 102 may transmit the RRCsignaling and/or control signaling to the gNB 105, although the scope ofembodiments is not limited in this respect.

In some embodiments, the RRC signaling and/or control signaling mayinclude information related to the mapping. In some embodiments, the UE102 may include the information related to the mapping to assist/enablescheduling of training periods by the gNB 105, although the scope ofembodiments is not limited in this respect.

Non-limiting examples are described below and elsewhere herein. Thescope of embodiments is not limited to these examples in terms of name,type, size and/or other aspect(s). In some embodiments, the RRCsignaling and/or control signaling may include the information relatedto the mapping, but may not necessarily include any of the elementsdescribed in the examples. In some embodiments, one or more of theelements described in the examples may include additional informationand/or alternate information.

In some embodiments, the UE 102 may encode a UE CA capability IE. In anon-limiting example, the UE CA capability IE may be a CA-Parameters NewRadio (CA-ParametersNR) IE. In some embodiments, the UE CA capability IEmay include carrier aggregation related capability information of theUE. In some embodiments, the UE CA capability IE may be encoded toinclude information related to the mapping. In some embodiments, the UE102 may encode the RRC signaling to include the UE CA capability IE.Embodiments are not limited to usage of the UE CA capability IE, asother elements (such as another IE, the CA-ParametersNR IE, RRCsignaling, control signal and/or other) may be used.

In some embodiments, the UE 102 may encode the UE CA capability IE, RRCsignaling and/or control signaling to include an indicator of support ofmore than one antenna panel (and/or other parameter) if the UE 102supports downlink reception on multiple antenna panels across multipleCCs. The UE 102 may encode the UE CA capability IE, RRC signaling and/orcontrol signaling to not include the indicator of support of more thanone antenna panel if the UE 102 is restricted to downlink reception onone antenna panel across the multiple CCs. In a non-limiting example,the indicator of support of more than one antenna panel may be a“supportMoreThanOneAntennaPanel” indicator/parameter, although the scopeof embodiments is not limited to this parameter or to the name of thisparameter.

In some embodiments, the UE 102 may encode the UE CA capability IE, RRCsignaling and/or control signaling to include a parameter that indicatesa number of receive beams that can be configured for multiple CCs. In anon-limiting example, the parameter that indicates the number of receivebeams may be a “numOfSimultaneousUEbeams” parameter, although the scopeof embodiments is not limited to this parameter or to the name of thisparameter.

In some embodiments, the UE 102 may encode the UE CA capability IE, RRCsignaling and/or control signaling to indicate a number of antennapanels supported by the UE.

In some embodiments, the UE 102 may encode the UE CA capability IE, RRCsignaling and/or control signaling to indicate one or more combinationsof CCs mapped to one of the antenna panels.

At operation 815, the UE 102 may receive control signaling. In someembodiments, the control signaling may be received from the gNB 105,although the scope of embodiments is not limited in this respect. Insome embodiments, the control signaling may indicate one or morescheduled training periods. The scheduled training periods may be foroperations such as: determination, by the UE 102, of one or moretransmit beams to be used, by the gNB 105, for downlink transmission;determination, by the UE 102, of one or more receive beams for thedownlink reception; operations of a beam management (BM) process,including but not limited to different phases of training (including butnot limited to the first phase described herein, the second phasedescribed herein, the third phase described herein, P1, P2, P3 phasesdescribed herein, similar phases, alternate phases, other phases, otheroperations and/or other processes); and/or other. In some embodiments,the control signaling may include additional information and/oralternate information.

One or more operations described herein may be performed as part of a BMprocess. Such operations may include, but are not limited to, one ormore of operations 820-840. It is understood, however, that one or moreof those operations may be performed but may not necessarily be part ofa BM process, in some embodiments.

At operation 820, the UE 102 may detect one or more synchronizationblocks. At operation 825, the UE 102 may determine first signal qualitymeasurements for a plurality of candidate transmit beams. At operation830, the UE 102 may transmit control signaling that includes informationrelated to the first signal quality measurements. At operation 835, theUE 102 may determine second signal quality measurements for a pluralityof candidate receive beams. At operation 840, the UE 102 may select areceive beam from the plurality of candidate receive beams.

It is understood that one or more of operations 820-840 may be performedmultiple times (such as for multiple intra-panel carrier groups, formultiple CCs, for multiple antenna panels and/or other). For instance,the UE 102 may perform one or more of operations 820-840 for a firstantenna panel and may perform one of more of operations 820-840 for asecond antenna panel.

In some embodiments, the UE 102 may, for each antenna panel, determine areceive beam for the downlink reception based at least partly ontraining signals received from the gNB 105 on at least one of the CCsmapped to the antenna panel, the signals received during one or more ofthe scheduled training periods.

In some embodiments, the UE 102 may determine one of more receive beamsas part of a beam management (BM) process, wherein determination of eachreceive beam includes: a first phase for coarse acquisition, by the UE102, of the receive beam and of a corresponding transmit beam of the gNB105; a second phase for refinement of the transmit beam of the gNB 105;and a third phase for refinement of the receive beam. It should be notedthat in descriptions herein, one or more operations may be performed aspart of a phase, but the scope of embodiments is not limited in thisrespect. One or more of those operations may be performed, and may notnecessarily be included in a phase.

It should be noted that the terms “first phase,” “second phase,” and“third phase” may be used herein for clarity, but such references arenot limiting. Embodiments are not limited to any chronological orderrelated to usage of the terms “first phase,” “second phase,” and “thirdphase.” Some embodiments may not necessarily include all three of thosephases. Some embodiments may include one or more additional phases,related phases, alternate phases and/or other phases.

In some embodiments, the first phase may be referred to as a “P1 phase,”although the scope of embodiments is not limited in this respect. Insome embodiments, the second phase may be referred to as a “P2 phase,”although the scope of embodiments is not limited in this respect. Insome embodiments, the third phase may be referred to as a “P3 phase,”although the scope of embodiments is not limited in this respect.

In some embodiments, the UE 102 may, as part of the first phase: detectone or more synchronization signal blocks. The UE 102 may, as part ofthe second phase: determine first signal quality measurements ontraining signals received by the UE 102 from different candidatetransmit beams of the gNB 105; encode, for transmission to the gNB 105,feedback related to the first signal quality measurements; and/or otheroperation(s). The UE 102 may, as part of the third phase: determinesecond signal quality measurements on training signals received by theUE 102 by different candidate receive beams; select the receive beamfrom the candidate receive beams based at least partly on the secondsignal quality measurements; and/or other operation(s).

In some embodiments, the UE 102 may perform one or more of: map the CCsinto intra-panel groups per antenna panel for downlink reception;transmit RRC signaling and/or control signaling that includesinformation related to mapping of the CCs into the intra-panel groups;receive, from the gNB 105, control signaling that indicates scheduledtraining periods for a beam management (BM) process; and/or other. Insome embodiments, the BM process may include, for each antenna panel,one or more of: a first phase for coarse acquisition, by the UE 102, ofthe receive beam and of a corresponding transmit beam of the gNB 105; asecond phase for refinement of the transmit beam of the gNB 105; a thirdphase for refinement of the receive beam; and/or other. In someembodiments, the UE 102 may include the information related to themapping in the RRC signaling and/or control signaling to enabledetermination, by the gNB 105, of the scheduled training periods.

It should be noted that embodiments are not limited by the names “firstphase,” “second phase,” and “third phase” and are not limited to usageof those phases. For instance, the UE 102 may perform the coarseacquisition, and the coarse acquisition may not necessarily be part ofthe first phase or part of any phase, in some embodiments.

In addition, the UE 102 may perform one or more of the operationsdescribed above, but may not necessarily perform all operations (such asoperations of one or more phases), in some embodiments.

In some cases, conflicts may occur, such as conflicts between trainingperiods on different CCs and/or other. Various techniques may be used toresolve such conflicts.

In some embodiments, for each antenna panel, if a first CC and a secondCC are mapped to the antenna panel, and if a first training period forthe first CC overlaps a second training period for the second CC, the UE102 may determine the receive beam for the antenna panel based ontraining signals received on the CC, from the first and second CCs, ofhighest bandwidth. In a non-limiting example, if training periods of twoCCs overlap, the UE 102 may prioritize the CC of higher bandwidth, andmay perform operations (such as determination of signal qualitymeasurements) for the prioritized CC. In another non-limiting example,if training periods of two CCs overlap, the UE 102 may prioritize the CCfor which a bandwidth of an activated bandwidth part (BWP) within the CCis highest, and may perform operations (such as determination of signalquality measurements) for the prioritized CC.

In some embodiments, for each antenna panel, if a first CC and a secondCC are mapped to the antenna panel, and if a first training period forthe first CC overlaps a second training period for the second CC, the UE102 may determine the receive beam for the antenna panel based ontraining signals received on the CC, from the first and second CCs, forwhich a cell type is of higher priority. The cell type may be eitherprimary cell (PCell) or secondary cell (Scell), and the Pcell is ofhighest priority than the SCell. For instance, if training periods oftwo CCs overlap, the UE 102 may prioritize a CC of the PCell over a CCof the SCell, and may perform operations (such as determination ofsignal quality measurements) for the prioritized CC

At operation 845, the UE 102 may receive downlink signals in accordancewith the carrier aggregation. In some embodiments, the UE 102 mayreceive the downlink signals from the gNB 105, although the scope ofembodiments is not limited in this respect. In some embodiments, the UE102 may receive the downlink signals in accordance with the receivebeam(s) determined at operation 840.

In some embodiments, an apparatus of a UE 102 may comprise memory. Thememory may be configurable to store information related to the mappingof the CCs to the plurality of antenna panels. The memory may store oneor more other elements and the apparatus may use them for performance ofone or more operations. The apparatus may include processing circuitry,which may perform one or more operations (including but not limited tooperation(s) of the method 800 and/or other methods described herein).The processing circuitry may include a baseband processor. The basebandcircuitry and/or the processing circuitry may perform one or moreoperations described herein, including but not limited to encoding ofthe UE CA capability IE. The apparatus may include a transceiver totransmit RRC signaling. The transceiver may transmit and/or receiveother blocks, messages and/or other elements.

At operation 905, the gNB 105 may receive RRC signaling and/or controlsignaling that indicates a mapping of CCs to a plurality of antennapanels for downlink reception at the UE 102. In some embodiments, theRRC signaling and/or control signaling may indicate information relatedto a mapping between antenna panels of the UE 102 and CCs of a carrieraggregation (CA). In some embodiments, the RRC signaling may include aUE CA capability IE (including but not limited to a CA-ParametersNR IE)that indicates the mapping, although the scope of embodiments is notlimited in this respect. In some embodiments, the gNB 105 may receivethe RRC signaling and/or control signaling from the UE 102, although thescope of embodiments is not limited in this respect.

At operation 910, the gNB 105 may determine one or more time periods forbeam management. In some embodiments, the gNB 105 may determine the oneor more time periods based at least partly on the mapping indicated inthe RRC signaling and/or control signaling received at operation 905. Insome embodiments, the gNB 105 may determine, based at least partly onthe mapping, for each CC: a first scheduled time period for transmitbeam refinement, wherein the gNB 105 is to transmit first trainingsignals in accordance with a plurality of candidate transmit beams; asecond scheduled time period for receive beam refinement at the UE 102,wherein the gNB 105 is to transmit second training signals in accordancewith one of the transmit beams of the candidate transmit beams; and/orother.

At operation 915, the gNB 105 may transmit control signaling. Thecontrol signaling may indicate information related to the scheduled timeperiods and/or other information.

At operation 920, the gNB 105 may transmit one or more synchronizationblocks.

At operation 925, the gNB 105 may transmit training signals withdifferent candidate transmit beams. At operation 930, the gNB 105 mayreceive control signaling that includes information related to signalquality measurements for the candidate transmit beams. At operation 935,the gNB 105 may select a transmit beam from the candidate transmitbeams. In some embodiments, one or more of operations 925-935 may beperformed multiple times. For instance, one or more of operations925-935 may be performed for: each CC, each antenna panel, eachintra-panel carrier group, one or more CCs, one or more antenna panels,one or more intra-panel carrier groups and/or other.

In some embodiments, the gNB 105 may receive feedback from the UE 102that indicates, for one or more of the CCs, information related tosignal quality measurements for candidate transmit beams. The UE 102 maydetermine transmit beams to be used, for each CC, for transmission oftraining signals for receive beam refinement at the UE 102.

At operation 940, the gNB 105 may transmit training signals with theselected transmit beam. For instance, training signals may betransmitted on a CC on the corresponding transmit beam for the CC, andthe UE 102 may receive the training signals by different candidatereceive beams as part of refinement of the receive beam.

In some embodiments, the gNB 105 may, for each CC, transmit one or moresynchronization signal blocks for coarse acquisition of a transmit beamand a receive beam as part of a first phase. The first scheduled timeperiod for transmit beam refinement may be part of a second phase. Thesecond scheduled time period for receive beam refinement may be part ofa third phase. Embodiments are not limited to these phases, as otherphases (P1, P2, P3 and/or other) may be used. In addition, embodimentsare not limited to performance of operations described herein as part ofa phase.

At operation 945, the gNB 105 may transmit signals with the selectedtransmit beam(s). For instance, after transmit beams aredetermined/selected, the gNB 105 may transmit signals (such as signalsbased on data, control and/or other) in accordance with those transmitbeams.

In some embodiments, an apparatus of a gNB 105 may comprise memory. Thememory may be configurable to store information identifying the mappingof the CCs to the plurality of antenna panels. The memory may store oneor more other elements and the apparatus may use them for performance ofone or more operations. The apparatus may include processing circuitry,which may perform one or more operations (including but not limited tooperation(s) of the method 900 and/or other methods described herein).The processing circuitry may include a baseband processor. The basebandcircuitry and/or the processing circuitry may perform one or moreoperations described herein, including but not limited to decoding ofRRC signaling. The apparatus may include a transceiver to receive theRRC signaling. The transceiver may transmit and/or receive other blocks,messages and/or other element.

FIG. 10 illustrates an example arrangement for beamforming in accordancewith some embodiments. FIG. 11 illustrates an example schedulingconflict in accordance with some embodiments. FIG. 12 shows non-limitingexamples of intra-panel Carrier Groups in accordance with someembodiments. FIG. 13 illustrates an example procedure in accordance withsome embodiments. It should be noted that the examples shown in FIGS.10-13 may illustrate some or all of the concepts and techniquesdescribed herein in some cases, but embodiments are not limited by theexamples. For instance, embodiments are not limited by the name, number,type, size, ordering, arrangement of elements (such as devices,operations, messages and/or other elements) shown in FIGS. 10-13.Although some of the elements shown in the examples of FIGS. 10-13 maybe included in a 3GPP LTE standard, 5G standard, NR standard and/orother standard, embodiments are not limited to usage of such elementsthat are included in standards.

UE RX Analog beam forming is one major feature introduced by 5G NRmmWave band (FR2) communications. Analogy beamforming is achieved byantenna array circuitries within UE 102 (also named as antenna panels)as shown in FIG. 10. The non-limiting example 1000 illustrates anantenna array model for RX analog beamforming. In the system model ofFIG. 10, N is the number of antenna elements within one antenna array.r(k, t), k=1, 2, . . . , N is the received analog signal on each antennaelement within the antenna array at time t. A vector of phaseconfigurations θ_(p)(k), k=1, 2, . . . , N and LNA gain configurationsg_(p)(k), k=1, 2, . . . , N, g_(p)(k)>0 for the antenna elements withinthe antenna array is called one analog code-word (a phase vector+a gainvector). For each code-wordp, the analogy beam-formed RX signal at UEreceiver side is then represented as the following form.

${s(t)} = {\sum\limits_{k = 1}^{N}{{r\left( {k,t} \right)} \cdot {g_{p}(k)} \cdot e^{j\;{\theta_{p}{(k)}}}}}$

The UE 102 may pre-optimize a set of analogy code-words (called ananalogy code-book), e.g. by lab calibrations and or lab testing, andstore the pre-optimized code-book in its memory. Each code-word isassociated to one UE RX beam. Different code-words can be associated todifferent UE RX beams pointing to different spatial directions, but canalso be associated to RX beams pointing to the same spatial directionbut with different beam widths. During online operation, through 5G NRbeam management procedures, UE need to identify the best code-word fromits pre-stored code-book for DL reception.

In FIG. 10, a non-limiting example of TX Analog beam forming may berealized by replacing LNA by PA, replacing Analog combiner by Powersplitter, replacing ADC by DAC, and reversing the directions of thearrows.

Analog beamforming has been introduced for 3GPP 5G NR operation inmmWave bands. On the UE 102 side, analog beamforming may be achieved bymaking use of the different phase shifting of antenna elements within anantenna array (also named as antenna panel). An antenna panel is able togenerate two beams in two polarizations (H beam and V beam) which canprovide antenna diversity in case of MIMO transmission.

In current 3GPP 5G NR standard in release 15, Beam Management (BM)framework has been defined to support beam management procedures betweengNB and UE in order to find the best TX-RX beam pair between the twoparties. For example, for DL transmission, P1/P2/P3 procedures may beimplicitly reflected by the 3GPP NR BM framework and are the workingassumption for UE 102 and gNB 105 implementation. The procedures arereferred to as P1, P2, and P3, but such references are not limiting. Theprocedures may be a first phase, second phase, and third phase, in someembodiments. In addition, embodiments are not limited to performance ofoperations as part of a phase.

In some embodiments, in a first phase (such as P1 and/or other), initialbeam acquisition is performed, wherein the UE 102 finds the best coarseTX-RX beam (wide beams) pair using synchronization signals blocks (SSB).In some embodiments, in a second phase (such as P2 and/or other), gNB TXbeam refinement is performed, wherein the UE 102 fixes its RX beam andthe gNB 105 sweeps the TX beams (narrow beams) and finds the best TXbeam based on measurement reports from the UE 102. In some embodiments,in a third phase (such as P3 and/or other), UE RX beam refinement isperformed, wherein the gNB 105 fixes its TX beam to the best TX beam(from the second phase), and the UE 102 sweeps the RX beams (narrowbeams) and finds the best RX beam based on internal measurement metricsof the UE 102.

Regarding carrier-aggregation (CA) operation in 5G NR mmWave bands (e.g.one CC (component carrier) in 24 GHz band and another CC in 38 GHzband), the current 3GPP BM framework supports the signaling of BMprocedures (e.g. first/second/third phases; P1/P2/P3; and/or other)separately (by separated carrier index) for each aggregated carrier.This provides the gNB 105 with flexibility to schedule BM proceduresindependently of CCs. However, an issue is that, it is up to UE 102implementation whether all CCs in mmWave bands share the same antennapanel or not. For low-cost UEs 102, it may be possible, in some designs,that all CCs in the mmWave bands share the same antenna panel. Such adesign may sacrifice a bit of the beamforming performance because thefrequency distance between CCs in different mmWave bands may be highenough such that the formed beam cannot be optimal for both CCs, in somecases.

For high performance UEs 102, it may be possible, in some embodiments,that CCs in different mmWave bands use different antenna panels. Thismay provide benefits, as the formed beam may be optimal, in some cases,for each CC in each band.

In some embodiments, signaling procedures may be defined by 3GPP 5G NRstandard to indicate such capability from UE 102 to the gNB 105. In somecases, if this capability is not indicated to the gNB 105 by the UE 102,conflicts may occur when the gNB 105 schedules BM procedures to the UE102 in a CA scenario. In FIG. 11, an example 1100 illustrates BMscheduling conflicts when the UE 102 shares a same antenna panel for allmmWave CCs, but the gNB 105 is not aware of this capability.

In some embodiments, a capability signaling may be sent by the UE 102 tothe gNB 105 to indicate one or more of: UE capability; whether and howthe mmWave bands occupies the antenna panel(s) within a UE 102; and/orother.

As one alternative, it is proposed to differentiate mmWave CA bandssupported by the UE 102 by different intra-Panel Carrier Groups. The CCswithin a same intra-panel carrier group may share the same antenna panelwithin the UE 102. By receiving such information from the UE 102, thegNB 105 can then accordingly schedule the coordinated BM procedures foreach intra-panel carrier group. This may help to avoid some schedulingconflicts, in some cases. Note that the proposed signaling may also beapplicable to single carrier operation scenario in mmWave bands. Forexample, the UE 102 may implement separate antenna panels, which mayoperate in parallel for the same band. Such a capability can besignaling to network using similar concepts. Accordingly, the networkcan schedule second phase/third phase (such as P2/P3 and/or other)procedures in parallel to the UE 102.

As another alternative, the UE 102 may indicate the capability ofseparated antenna panels to the network. For instance, RRC signaling maybe used, in some embodiments. Other types of signaling may be used, insome embodiments.

Furthermore, for robustness against a non-user friendly gNB 105implementation, it is proposed to introduce priority handling forconcurrent BM procedures in mmWave CA scenario in case conflicts stillexist (e.g. due to non-deal timing synchronicity among differentintra-panel groups). The priority can be based on cell type (e.g. Pcellhas higher priority than Scell) or CC specific parameters (Scells withhigher bandwidth has higher priority than other Scells, etc) or by BMprocedure types (e.g. CCs with P2 step has higher priority than CCs withP3 step to avoid waiting from gNB 105).

In some embodiments, optimized BM for different UE 102 antenna panelcapability in mmWave CA operations may be used. In some embodiments,robust BM procedures in mmWave CA operations may be used.

To ensure that BM scheduling by the gNB 105 has minimal conflicts incase of CA operations in mmWave bands, it is proposed to introduce a newcapability signaling from the UE 102 to the gNB 105 in 5G NR mmWavecommunications. The signaling may indicate how the UE 102 maps themmWAVE bands into different antenna panels of the UE 102. As oneimplementation example, the signaling may map each of the mmWave bandssupported by the UE 102 into an Intra-Panel Carrier Group (each group isassociated with an index). In some embodiments, all mmWave CA bandswithin the indicated intra-panel Carrier Group may share a same antennapanel within the UE 102.

FIG. 12 shows non-limiting examples 1200, 1220, 1240, 1260 of how theproposed intra-panel Carrier Groups may be mapped. The examples 1200,1220, 1240, 1260 may illustrate how the intra-panel carrier groups maybe generated.

It should be noted that the example 1260 in FIG. 12 shows a case inwhich multiple antenna panels are supported by a single band whichenables multiple panel operations. In FIG. 12, for the example 1240(bottom left), CCs at 28 GHz band may be associated to two independentUE 102 antenna panels. By knowing this capability through indication bythe UE 102, the gNB 105 could accordingly schedule parallel secondphase/third phase (such as P2 and P3 and/or other) procedures on the CCsat 28 Ghz band.

As an alternative, the UE 102 may indicate the capability of separatedantenna panels to the network. In some embodiments RRC signaling may beused. Other types of signaling may be used, in some embodiments. In someembodiments, the indication may be 1 bit signaling, which indicateswhether the UE 102 comprises only one antenna panel or not. In someembodiments, the indication may be 1 bit signaling that indicateswhether the UE 102 could support more than 1 UE RX beam simultaneously.In some embodiments, the indication may be a number of separated panelssupported by the UE 102. In some embodiments, the indication may beassociated with band ID and/or band combinations. In some embodiments,band combinations may be applied for CA or Dual-Connectivity (DC) cases.

Furthermore, in cases in which there is remaining BM schedulingconflicts which can still not be avoided (for instance, due to non-dealtiming synchronicity among different intra-panel groups), it is proposedto introduce priority handling for concurrent BM procedures in mmWave CAoperations. The priority can be based on cell type (e.g. Pcell hashigher priority than Scell) or CC specific parameters (Scells withhigher bandwidth has higher priority than other Scells, etc) or by BMprocedure types (e.g. CCs with the second phase and/or P2 step hashigher priority than CCs with third phase and/or P3 step to avoidwaiting from the gNB 105).

An example procedure 1300 is shown in FIG. 13. The example procedure maybe for CC priority handling when the beam management scheduling patternin different CCs are conflicting due to an antenna panel capability ofthe UE 102.

In some embodiments, a UE 102 may map supported mmWave bands (supportedby the UE 102) into intra-panel carrier groups. The bands within anintra-panel carrier group may share a same antenna panel hardware withinthe UE 102. In some embodiments, the UE 102 may indicate the mapping ofintra-panel carrier groups into a base station through higher layersignaling. In some embodiments, the UE 102 may indicate, to the network,a capability of separated antenna panels. RRC signaling and/or othersignaling may be used, in some embodiments. In some embodiments, theindication may be 1 bit signaling. Embodiments are not limited to usageof 1 bit, however, as any suitable number of bits may be used in someembodiments.

In some embodiments, the indication may be related to a number ofseparated panels supported by the UE 102. In some embodiments, theindication may be associated with band ID or band combinations. In someembodiments, band combinations may be applied for CA or DC cases.

In some embodiments, the gNB 105 (and/or base station (BS)) maydetermines the dependency of beam management procedures on differentaggregated carriers to the UE 102 based on the indicated intra-panelcarrier groups information. In some embodiments, the UE 102 may resolveconflicts of beam management procedures from different aggregatedcarriers by comparing the priority of beam management procedures. Insome embodiments, the priority can be based on the type of an aggregatedcarrier. In a non-limiting example, a primary cell may have a higherpriority than a secondary cell. In some embodiments, the priority can bebased on the bandwidth of an aggregated carrier. In a non-limitingexample, the aggregated carrier with higher bandwidth may have higherpriority. In some embodiments, the priority can be based on the steps ofbeam management procedure on an aggregated carrier. In a non-limitingexample, the second phase and/or P2 procedure may have a higher prioritythan the third phase and/or P3 procedure. In some embodiments, thepriority may be jointly determined by usage of two or more techniquesdescribed herein (including but not limited to the techniques describedabove).

In some embodiments, the gNB 105 (and/or the base station) may generatebeam management scheduling patterns for more than 1 component carriers,based on the received UE 102 antenna panel capability. In someembodiments, the beam management scheduling patterns for gNB TX beamrefinement (second phase and/or P2) in a first component carrier and theUE RX beam refinement (third phase and/or P3) on a second componentcarrier can be triggered at a same time instance when the two componentcarriers are associated to different UE antenna panels. In someembodiments, the beam management scheduling patterns for gNB TX beamrefinement (second phase and/or P2) in a first component carrier and theUE RX beam refinement (third phase and/or P3) on a second componentcarrier can be triggered in different time instances when the twocomponent carriers are associated to a same UE antenna panel.

The Abstract is provided to comply with 37 C.F.R. Section 1.72(b)requiring an abstract that will allow the reader to ascertain the natureand gist of the technical disclosure. It is submitted with theunderstanding that it will not be used to limit or interpret the scopeor meaning of the claims. The following claims are hereby incorporatedinto the detailed description, with each claim standing on its own as aseparate embodiment.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus of a User Equipment (UE), theapparatus comprising: memory; and processing circuitry, the processingcircuitry to configure the UE for carrier aggregation (CA) in which aplurality of component carriers (CCs) are aggregated, the processingcircuitry configured to: determine a mapping of the CCs to a pluralityof antenna panels for downlink reception, wherein a subset of the CCs ismapped to each antenna panel; encode a UE CA capability informationelement (IE) that includes carrier aggregation related capabilityinformation of the UE, wherein the UE CA capability IE is encoded toinclude information related to the mapping; encode, for transmission toa Next Generation Node-B (gNB), radio resource control (RRC) signalingthat includes the UE CA capability IE; decode, from the gNB, controlsignaling that indicates one or more scheduled training periods fordetermination, by the UE, of one or more receive beams for the downlinkreception; for each antenna panel, determine a receive beam for thedownlink reception based at least partly on training signals receivedfrom the gNB on at least one of the CCs mapped to the antenna panel,wherein the training signals are received during one or more of thescheduled training periods, wherein the memory is configured to storeinformation related to the mapping.
 2. The apparatus according to claim1, the processing circuitry further configured to: encode the UE CAcapability IE to include the information related to the mapping toassist scheduling of the training periods by the gNB.
 3. The apparatusaccording to claim 1, the processing circuitry further configured to:encode the UE CA capability IE to include an indicator of support ofmore than one antenna panel if the UE supports downlink reception onmultiple antenna panels across multiple CCs; and encode the UE CAcapability IE to not include the indicator of support of more than oneantenna panel if the UE is restricted to downlink reception on oneantenna panel across the multiple CCs.
 4. The apparatus according toclaim 1, the processing circuitry further configured to: encode the UECA capability IE to include a parameter that indicates a number ofreceive beams that can be configured for multiple CCs.
 5. The apparatusaccording to claim 1, the processing circuitry further configured to:encode the UE CA capability IE to indicate a number of antenna panelssupported by the UE.
 6. The apparatus according to claim 1, theprocessing circuitry further configured to: encode the UE CA capabilityIE to indicate one or more combinations of CCs mapped to one of theantenna panels.
 7. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the UEcarrier aggregation related capability IE is a CA-Parameters New Radio(CA-ParametersNR) IE.
 8. The apparatus according to claim 1, theprocessing circuitry further configured to: for each antenna panel, if afirst CC and a second CC are mapped to the respective antenna panel, andif a first training period for the first CC overlaps a second trainingperiod for the second CC: determine the receive beam for the respectiveantenna panel based on training signals received on either the first CCor the second CC, wherein training signals received from the first CCare used when a bandwidth of an activated bandwidth part (BWP) withinthe first CC is highest, and training signals received from the secondCC are used when a bandwidth of an activated BWP of the second CC ishighest.
 9. The apparatus according to claim 1, the processing circuitryfurther configured to: for each antenna panel, if a first CC and asecond CC are mapped to the respective antenna panel, and if a firsttraining period for the first CC overlaps a second training period forthe second CC: determine the receive beam for the respective antennapanel based on training signals received on either the first CC or thesecond CC, based on whether the first CC or the second CC has a celltype of higher priority, wherein the cell type is either primary cell(PCell) or secondary cell (Scell), and the Pcell is of higher prioritythan the SCell.
 10. The apparatus according to claim 1, the processingcircuitry further configured to: determine the receive beams as part ofa beam management (BM) process, wherein determination of each receivebeam includes: a first phase for coarse acquisition, by the UE, of thereceive beam and of a corresponding transmit beam of the gNB, a secondphase for refinement of the transmit beam of the gNB, and a third phasefor refinement of the receive beam.
 11. The apparatus according to claim10, the processing circuitry further configured to: as part of the firstphase: detect one or more synchronization signal blocks; as part of thesecond phase: determine first signal quality measurements on trainingsignals received by the UE from different candidate transmit beams ofthe gNB; and encode, for transmission to the gNB, feedback related tothe first signal quality measurements; as part of the third phase:determine second signal quality measurements on training signalsreceived by the UE by different candidate receive beams; and select thereceive beam from the candidate receive beams based at least partly onthe second signal quality measurements.
 12. The apparatus according toclaim 1, the processing circuitry further configured to: determine themapping based at least partly on a maximum frequency separationcriterion, wherein carrier frequencies of any two CCs mapped to one ofthe antenna panels are not separated by more than the maximum frequencyseparation.
 13. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein at least oneof the CCs is in a millimeter wave (mm Wave) frequency band.
 14. Theapparatus according to claim 1, wherein: the apparatus includes atransceiver coupled to the apparatus, the transceiver to transmit theRRC signaling, and the processing circuitry includes a basebandprocessor to encode the UE CA capability IE.
 15. An apparatus of a UserEquipment (UE), the apparatus comprising: memory; and processingcircuitry, the processing circuitry to configure the UE for carrieraggregation (CA) in which a plurality of component carriers (CCs) areaggregated, the processing circuitry configured to: map the CCs intointra-panel groups per antenna panel for downlink reception; encode, fortransmission, RRC signaling that includes information related to mappingof the CCs into the intra-panel groups; decode, from the gNB, controlsignaling that indicates scheduled training periods for a beammanagement (BM) process that includes, for each antenna panel: a firstphase for coarse acquisition, by the UE, of the receive beam and of acorresponding transmit beam of the gNB, a second phase for refinement ofthe transmit beam of the gNB, and a third phase for refinement of thereceive beam.
 16. The apparatus according to claim 15, the processingcircuitry further configured to: encode the RRC signaling to include theinformation related to the mapping to enable determination, by the gNB,of the scheduled training periods.
 17. A non-transitorycomputer-readable memory medium storing software instructions that, whenexecuted by processing circuitry of a User Equipment (UE), cause theprocessing circuitry to: determine a mapping of component carriers (CCs)for carrier aggregation (CA) to a plurality of antenna panels fordownlink reception, wherein a subset of the CCs is mapped to eachantenna panel; encode a UE CA capability information element (IE) thatincludes carrier aggregation related capability information of the UE,wherein the UE CA capability IE is encoded to include informationrelated to the mapping; encode, for transmission to a base station,radio resource control (RRC) signaling that includes the UE CAcapability IE; decode, from the base station, control signaling thatindicates one or more scheduled training periods for determination ofone or more receive beams for the downlink reception; for each antennapanel, determine a receive beam for the downlink reception based atleast partly on training signals received from the base station on atleast one of the CCs mapped to the antenna panel, the signals receivedduring one or more of the scheduled training periods.
 18. Thenon-transitory computer-readable memory medium according to claim 17,wherein the software instructions are further executed to cause theprocessing circuitry to: encode the UE CA capability IE to include anindicator of support of more than one antenna panel if the UE supportsdownlink reception on multiple antenna panels across multiple CCs; andencode the UE CA capability IE to not include the indicator of supportof more than one antenna panel if the UE is restricted to downlinkreception on one antenna panel across the multiple CCs.
 19. Thenon-transitory computer-readable memory medium according to claim 17,wherein the software instructions are further executed to cause theprocessing circuitry to: encode the UE CA capability IE to include aparameter that indicates a number of receive beams that can beconfigured for multiple CCs.
 20. The non-transitory computer-readablememory medium according to claim 17, wherein the software instructionsare further executed to cause the processing circuitry to: encode the UECA capability IE to indicate one or more combinations of CCs mapped toone of the antenna panels.